Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. Yet, I’m sure you can think of a million situations outside these parameters, that cause you fear.

As college students and young professionals, it is my belief that millennials are caught in the middle of an era bound by fear. As a matter of fact, we are a generation literally running on fear.

If you don’t believe me, ask yourself:

Why do you fear graduating college?

Why do you fear never getting hired into the field or position you’ve always dreamed of?

Why do you fear that you‘ve chosen the wrong major? The wrong school?

Why do you fear you’ll never have time for love?

Why do you fear you’ll have no choice than to live a life of dissatisfaction?

As millennials, we’re constantly being told the pressure is on to work ourselves thin if we want a decent future.

Moreover, we’re told to choose fields of study outside our interests, due to false assurances that the agonizing process will somehow pay off in years down the line.

Ultimately, the message instilled in the minds of millennials is a need to fear the future so intensely, that we make important life decisions based on a false promises involving stable jobs and enough money to support ourselves.

At this point, our generation has grown so used to fearing the future, they rarely make big decisions based on passion.

Yet, all around us people work in “stable” jobs and suffer with disinterest. They struggle with continuous stress, and lack motivation.

With this, it becomes evident that the fear instilled in millennials, regarding the future, only serves to hurt them. Unfortunately, decisions based on this widespread fear are commonly regarded as smart, rather than ignorant.

At the end of the day, trading passion, motivation, and a free spirit for a future based on false promises, is no trade at all.

Fear of the future only steals from our generation. It’s time to open our eyes and take back the hopes and dreams we’ve been robbed of.